Autonomous vehicles, also known as a driverless car, self-driving car, robotic car, and unmanned ground vehicle are controlled with the aid of sensors. The sensors to sense the environment so that the vehicle can navigate without human input. Sensory techniques can include radar, laser light, GPS, odometry, and computer vision. Sensors used in these techniques may be arranged in an array mounted on the roof of the vehicle.
FIG. 4 shows an example sedan type car with an array of sensor devices mounted on racks attached to the roof area. The sensor devices include cameras to cover a 360 degree view around the vehicle. Some sensor devices may need to be positioned at different elevations above other devices to avoid being obscured. An example device that may need to be positioned above other devices is known as a LIDAR. A LIDAR is radar device that uses laser light. It can be used to make a 3D representation of the area surrounding a vehicle. Thus, sensor arrays mounted on vehicles may require an arrangement in which several types of sensors are provided with unobstructed views.
At the same time, there are cases where it may not be desirable to operate in a completely autonomous fashion. A hybrid approach to an autonomous vehicle may be more practical. For example, autonomous operation without human input may be possible in environments that have been specially designed for autonomous vehicles. Such environments may include special lanes in roads and highways in which markings have been made in the sides of the roads to indicate boundaries and guide navigation. The markings may be indications that are known beforehand to the vehicle. Other environments may not be suitable for completely autonomous operation. Environments that may not be suitable for autonomous operation may include rural or other settings where roads may not be sufficiently marked. Also, a driver may simply decide to drive the vehicle with his/hers own input.
The conventional rack arrangement exposes the various sensor devices to environmental conditions, causes aerodynamic drag, and is unappealing.
The foregoing “Background” description is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the inventor, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.